The Dispatch: More from CWR...

What happens to the pro-life movement in a post-Trump era?

By Kate Scanlon for CNA

President Donald Trump visits the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Alamo, Texas, Jan. 12, 2021. (CNS photo/Carlos Barria, Reuters)

Washington D.C., Jan 15, 2021 / 04:25 pm (CNA).- President Donald Trump on Wednesday became the first president in American history to be impeached by the House of Representatives twice.

The vote came a week after supporters of the president breached the U.S. Capitol, delaying the formal certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election by several hours and instigating a deadly riot.

Both the violent scenes from the riot and the second impeachment vote—which followed unproven claims from Trump that the election was stolen from him—are likely to loom large in Trump’s legacy.

And the pro-life movement that largely embraced Trump will have to grapple with this legacy, even as it braces for an incoming presidential administration that ran on a heavily pro-abortion platform.

Catholic theologian Charles Camosy told Catholic News Agency that as he watched coverage of the riot at the Capitol, “Like so many of us, including the overwhelmingly large number of pro-lifers I know, I was disgusted and horrified.”

“Especially with respect to the loss of human life that happened and, due to the now clear plans of many who put the Capitol under siege that day, the even greater loss of life that could have taken place,” Camosy said.

Camosy is a former Democrats for Life of America board member, who resigned from the position in 2020, saying the party’s embrace of extreme positions on abortion left him no choice but to abandon the party and join the American Solidarity Party.

Asked if the pro-life movement should sever its ties with Trump, Camosy said, “I’ve been warning against this relationship from the very beginning.”

“Significantly, many of the pro-life leaders and organizations who have been in some kind of friendly relationship with him over the past four years, themselves warned about Trump during the 2016 GOP primaries,” Camosy said. “Something changed. Proximity to power in order to do genuine good in the short run is a huge temptation, and those of us who never supported Trump should acknowledge the good things that were gone, but we are now seeing what many of us warned about.”

Camosy added that he thinks “it would have been difficult enough to try to undo the damage that having the pro-life movement associated with Trump even without the assault on the Capitol.”

“But now the task is absolutely gargantuan,” he said. “It is far too late to sever ties now.”

Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, founder of New Wave Feminists, told Catholic News Agency she watched in horror, but not surprise, as the riot at the Capitol unfolded last week.

“I think for a lot of us who were opposed to Trump four years ago, we saw this coming,” Herndon-De La Rosa said. “This was an inevitability and I think for the pro-life movement to have attached itself to him so strongly—really any political candidate is always a dangerous thing—but especially has volatile as he is. He has shown us his true colors all along.”

Trump won the 2016 election after campaigning heavily on pro-life promises, including a pledge to appoint only pro-life Supreme Court justices. But his candidacy and election posed a dilemma for the pro-life movement, with some arguing that his record–particularly his treatment of women–made him a poor choice to represent a cause claiming to be pro-woman.

But despite these misgivings from some, Trump became a de facto face of the pro-life movement. In 2018, Trump became the first president to address the national March for Life in Washington, D.C., via satellite from the White House, although previous Republican presidents had done so by phone. Two years later, Trump became the first president to attend the March in person.

While these high-profile appearances drew attention to the annual D.C. event, not everyone in the pro-life movement was happy with the president’s attendance. Then-Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), among the most prominent pro-life Democrats, backed out of the 2018 March for Life, where he was scheduled to be a featured speaker, after Trump’s satellite address was announced. Lipinski said at the time he could not put himself in the “potentially morally compromised situation” of sharing a stage with a president whose words were unpredictable and often offensive.

Lipinski, who recently left Congress after a primary defeat last year, called the Jan. 6 riot “unbelievable.”

“The U.S. Capitol is the symbol and the real seat of our democratic republic and to see it attacked was just very concerning,” he told CNA. “It’s still something that’s hard to comprehend.”

Lipinski said he had expressed concern about tying Trump too closely to the pro-life movement from the beginning. He acknowledged some positive policy accomplishments on pro-life goals by the administration, but said “we have to win the hearts and minds of people.”

“He’s hurting us in terms of recruiting more people over to our side,” Lipinski said. “We need more people who are with us, and one way that you get people with you is to have a good image of what it means to be pro-life, what type of person is pro-life. And so it’s good to have people who are viewed positively, who are good role models, to be seen as pro-life leaders. And in that respect I think Donald Trump was harmful over the last for years and in the long run.”

As Trump’s presidency ends with a second impeachment–and polls showing a majority of Americans saying he should be removed from office–some pro-lifers worry that the president’s legacy could continue haunting the pro-life movement for years to come.

While some tout legislative and judiciary victories on pro-life goals, other pro-lifers worry that the president’s reputation could drive people away from the pro-life cause–or portray the pro-life movement as oppressive to women. While polls consistently show voters favoring substantial limits on abortion, support for Roe v. Wade hit an all-time high during Trump’s presidency.

Herndon-De La Rosa offered a biblical analogy to the pro-life movement’s association with Trump.

“The Supreme Court nominees that Trump promised, those were the twenty pieces of silver, and so we were willing to overlook these grievous offenses and problems with his character, because those Supreme Court seats were so vital and now we’re suffering the repercussions of that,” she said.

Trump’s legacy, Herndon-De La Rosa said, would still have been difficult to come to terms with prior to the riot, pointing to remarks Trump made about women revealed during his presidential campaign.

“We spent decades trying to show people how we are pro-woman,” she said. “The second we aligned ourselves with a man who made such degrading comments about women, we lost credibility. This was always a dangerous alliance, and now we’re seeing that it was more of a suicide pact.”

As for Trump’s association with the pro-life movement, Herndon-De La Rosa argued, “I don’t know that there’s recovering from it.”

“This is going to have to be a phoenix rising from the ashes moment where we really do some introspective soul-searching,” she said.

Herndon-De La Rosa said she and some of her allies have adopted terminology like “consistent life ethicist” to differentiate themselves from some other facets of the pro-life movement.

“And that’s either going to go nowhere, or it’s going to be something that is ultimately a bigger tent,” she commented.

Camosy offered a more hopeful view of the future. While he thinks the pro-life movement will be “tarnished” by its association with Trump “for at least a generation – maybe longer,” he also thinks there are things pro-life advocates can do to promote healing.

Looking forward, he said, pro-lifers must “pursue our goals in a very non-partisan way.”

“[We should] work, especially at the state level, for prenatal justice–which is most likely to come from alliances with Republicans,” he said, but “we should also work to save babies’ lives–and support their mothers–by working on the ‘demand side’ of abortion,” pointing to steps to address poverty and intimate partner violence.

“We must work to resist the social-structural problems which push so many women to have abortions and this likely will mean alliances with Democrats,” he said.

“Though perhaps, as the GOP figures out what it wants to be, we can help push Republicans to join us in this approach as well,” he added. “Political idolatry is poison more generally–just to human nature–but it is particularly poisonous to the pro-life movement. We must be more politically nimble and non-partisan in our pursuit.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List and a vocal supporter of President Trump, did not immediately respond to an interview request through a spokesperson. But during the riot, she condemned the violence, writing in a tweet that it is “not reflective of pro-life Americans and Trump supporters who align with his call to support police today.”


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61 Comments

  1. The problem is that most pro-life people, faced with a choice between a clear, unrepentant abortionist and an imperfect Trump, felt no choice but to go with Trump, even though we had to hold our stomachs as we did so. There actually were alternatives, but they would likely have led to the same result as we have now: a militantly abortionist government, albeit without some of the violence and instability we have now. The only other alternative would have been a primary challenge to Trump, which would have been a major undertaking against a sitting President. There does come a time when pro-life people have to unite instead of fighting one another if we are to accomplish anything.

    If Joe Biden can present himself as a devout Catholic and get away with it, surely the pro-life movement can repackage itself in time for 2022, assuming that we even have elections of any kind in 2022, which seems like a long way off now.

  2. This article is laughable. Trump was demonstrably the most pro-life president in the history of America. He delivered more for pro-life than anyone else. His Supreme Court nominations are huge, not something to reluctantly accept. Big Pro Life is Big Business and Big Fundraising. They’re going to use the Democrat controlled federal government and the codification of Roe into law that will happen as fundraising moments to pay the salaries of their executives. I won’t give a cent to Big Pro Life organizations. What good are they? What have they accomplished without Trump? What can they hope to accomplish as Democrats control the federal government? Nothing. So why do they exist? Why give to them? Let them all dissolve into irrelevancy. Real prolifers will redirect their efforts and money locally, helping people instead of trying to make legislation or judges the priority. Bye bye, Big Pro Life.

    • “Real prolifers will redirect their efforts and money locally, helping people instead of trying to make legislation or judges the priority. Bye bye, Big Pro Life.”
      Josh that is such a profound statement for sure the real battle for pro-life will be in the hearts and minds of each citizen. While also supporting and offering alternatives to abortion.

    • How many times have I heard that “we have to win the hearts and minds” ? 60 million deaths of the unborn bears testimony that this line of thinking is naive and dangerous. Let’s face it, most of us, not all, turned the other way on abortion. The elephant in the room has never been more obvious and if you can’t see that you can not stay on this course of blindness to all of these deaths. We will have to answer to God for our inaction and just wanting to get along.In a old western movie called Lonesome Dove there is a scene where men from a cattle drive come upon a band of men that were killers and horse thieves, an old friend of theirs was with the rustlers. As they put nooses around the necks of the bad guys their friend pleadingly reminded them that he was just traveling with the bad guys and did not participate in any of the misdeeds of the gang. His friends still hung him and when asked by the youngster of the cowboys why did they also hang the old friend when he was not an active participant the answer was , ,and I paraphrase, any man that would go along and watch these killings and do nothing deserves the same fate as these rustlers “.

      • Even many of us pro-lifers tend to get desensitized by the horror that is abortion, as we are constantly bombarded with terrible, sensational news stories from readily accessible media in the world today.

        I remember many years ago when my eleven year-old son asked me what abortion is. When I told him, he was immediately shocked, disgusted, and incredulous. We should all have that feeling and keep evil in perspective.

        • Thank you, Jenny, for bringing up the feelings and attitudes of a largely neglected class – the siblings (and unconsidered fathers).
          I have thought for a long time that the root problem was sexual permissiveness in a culture that bore a double standard on pregnancy. It drained the love act out of the sex act.
          When people threw the matter of caring for daughters and their newborn babies into the hands of impartial, cold government process they drained family out of population.
          The thing to do then was simply love and care for daughter and grandchild. Then, same as now. But they don’t. Who has the right to complain now?
          Open more adoption agencies, and group homes for new single moms and the kids.

    • Agreed.We are about to witness the continued genocide of mostly minority unborn. All at the behest of a President that calls himself Catholic when it benefits him politically. We are becoming a nation lost. And If accountability is now the action du jour, do please look past the storming of the Nation’s House. I wait breathlessly for any and all in the Catholic hierarchy to acknowledge, vilify and prosecute ALL cases of pedophilia linked to the Catholic Church. Regardless of position, all should go. All should be prosecuted.

    • Has there ever been a more disheartening moment in prolife politics? Quite obviously, Catholic leadership wanted a pro-abortion Democrat as the 2nd Catholic president. Where were the complaints last summer when cities were burning all over America, and these events were called “mostly peaceful.” The diabolical hatred expressed against President Trump achieved its goal, and the devil is doing a tap-dance within the Catholic Church.

      • The article is lies. Thank God there r people like u that speak truth. President Trump was targeted by satan because satan knew he would get rid of our mortal sins of abortion same sex unions etc. If President Trump promoted killing babies in the womb he would still be President. Satan hates him and fought against him from before his election.

    • Even a site like this can not give real credit where it is due. The Church, as it is today, is so afraid of it’s shadow. Our Bishop won’t even publish an edict that all parishes must include a prayer for the unborn in the prayers of the faithful. Why? They know what is coming. Catholic schools that teach anything against the liberal mantras will lose their accrediation. This article failed to address many of the already shortcomings of the Church on all life. Many Saints spoke out against the everyday heresies of the Church. I thank God as a practicing Catholic there are Priests who will call the liberals and especially Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi out on their desecration of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ and support of the slaughter of the souls of the unborn.

      • You’re right, Maureen. The spiritually weak and worldly Catholic leaders fear man and not God. That is why many are leaving Catholicism and joining bible believing Christian churches. Hardly anyone is stepping up to fill the vacancies of the priesthood….people’s eyes are finally waking up to the hypocrites in the Catholic church. Jesus himself called the religious leaders of His day hypocrites….He would do the same to the leaders of the Catholic church today. The church is imploding from within. God can accept them again if they repent and turn from their evil ways……..keep praying!!

    • Josh, thanks so much for your comments. I’m wondering about the same thing. I do know there have been sincerely dedicated prolife people working in national and state right to life chapters but if I see them suddenly turning on President Trump I’ll no longer support those organizations.

  3. I 100% agree with Josh Gable. The article is laughable. Open your eyes people, Trump is the real deal. He is up against the fight of his life with the devil. The people trying to impeach him are the people who want to take away your religious liberties. Trump has been trying to defeat these evil people for 4 years. Have faith and pray that you still have a Country and the freedoms that go with it. Please be vigilant and prayerful.

  4. Another smear of the Pro-Life Movement. It is a proven fact that Antifa & BLM had infiltrated the attendee’s to the Presidents January 6th,2021 speech.De La Rosa, Lipinski. and Camosy are die hard {D}’s before anything else.Antifa & BLM were responsible for the “riot-siege” of the Capital.Some Trump supporters were no doubt swept up in the moment not realizing the Evil amongst them.The vandalism & death caused by the leftist infiltrators isn’t on the Pro-Life movement.It’s the MSM banging that drum.Ms Scanlon should be ashamed of herself,but she’s NOT!

    • Don’t forget.the rent a crowd. The pro aborts. The radical feminist movements. The former presidents and wives who had it in for him.
      It shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Mr Trump showed his hand too early.
      That now some pro lifers turn against him? Why surprise?
      Its called following the mob

    • Everyone had warning. It was December 19 that Trump invited all to Washington on January 6th. “It will be wild!” And it was.

      But we can still vigorously disagree with the articles two sources, one Democrat the other feminist. Trump’s masterful manipulation of symbols actually wound up smearing prolife conservatives with Confederate statues, when the Confederacy, along with slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation are distinctly Democrat. They are Democrat statues that Trump called “beautiful”. What gaslighting!

      As for feminism, go look at New Wave Feminist website and see how much you like of their, as they put it, sh*t. It was feminist who brought us abortion and most of the attendant miseries of the last fifty years.

      Donald Trump *said* he wanted to put rape incest exceptions into the Republican platform. He was ****never**** going to abolish abortion. We would make a big mistake to run away from the sterling GOP platform and ballot access. Instead we should run all the infiltrators (including Trump) OUT of the GOP.

      GOP – abolition then, abolition now.

      Ever GOP.

  5. THis is a terrible article. I will no longer subscribe to CWR. Trump did not insite the riot. He has been a great advocate for the pro-life movement. How cowardly of you to turn your back on him.

    • The article doesn’t say Trump incited the riot. It states: “The vote came a week after supporters of the president breached the U.S. Capitol, delaying the formal certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election by several hours and instigating a deadly riot.” Is that false?

      • Honestly, we do not know for a fact that those who breached the Capitol security were supporters of the President or BLM/antifa trouble makers, or someone else entirely. And I doubt we ever will.
        .
        We do not completely know exactly what happened. A good many of us have a “friend of a friend who said” this or that thing on FB or whatever. A fellow homeschool mom says her church friend was there and saw the Capitol security forces opening the barricaids.
        .
        I believe my friend if they say it was a set up. Why should I trust the various news agencies, even CWR, over my friend? Or her friend? Were you there? In person?
        .
        Why should I believe supporters of the President caused a deadly riot when all summer long, BLM/antifa riots have caused billions of damage and cost dozen of lives, and the media called it “mostly peaceful” riots? You think if anti-Trumpers got involved, Biden et al would admit it?

      • Mr. Olson, I truly feel bad for you having to respond to raving conspiracy theorists. It saddens me to see a not-insignificant amount of Catholics are now indistinguishable from the average atheist qanon disciple.

        Just look at these comments shutting their eyes to the sad reality: latching on to Trump in such a shallow and opportunistic way has made pro-life meaningless to a majority of the sub-45-year-old population. It will take a titanic effort to “divorce” (with no annulment) the ethics of life with the image of a man who manipulated religious voters into massaging his ego, with only a few short-term judicial appointments in return! I wonder who will take care of all those rape-babies that were conceived in those ICE internment camps, I wonder…

        • Joe,
          Do you consider 3 Supreme Court justices & over 200 lifetime federal judge appointments “few” & “short term”?
          I understand you didn’t care for Pres. Trump, fair enough, but his administration will leave a long lasting effect on our culture all the same.

  6. I stopped reading this article after just the first few paragraphs. None of the claims of a fair election nor who or what caused the riots have been proven. The only investigations into President Trump’s claim of fraud were performed by those who committed the fraud. The state courts dismissed law suit without review by progressive judges of the states in questions. Even the Chief Justice Roberts, who has proven to be just another progressive, refuse to hear the cases appealed to the supreme court. The impeachment was a rush to judgement without witnesses or the accused afforded his right to defend. And now we hear that the riot was pre-planned by agitators disguised as Trump supporters. This article begins in the same manner as the review of an election fraught with errors or the rush to blame our President for the riot on January 6th. Just ask yourself who profited from the riot? Not our President, but those who have been turning a blind eye to the nationwide riots for the past year.

    • sflynn, you maintain that ” …..now we hear that the riot was pre-planned by agitators disguised as Trump supporters.”
      Any independent inquiry will establish this is simply wishful thinking on your part. This from the BBC is a list of those arrested so far for you and others who maintain the fantasy thay Antifa false flag interlopers were behind the occupation of Capitol Hill ;
      If we seek the truth even if it does not bode well from a partisan political perspective we will be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
      This cuts both ways for followers of Jesus, progressives and traditionalists.

      “Aaron Mostofsky – The 34-year-old son of a Brooklyn judge was freed after posting a $100,000 bail. Pictures from the riot showed him wearing furs and a police tactical vest that he is accused of stealing
      William Pepe – The New York City transit worker was suspended without pay after officials said he called out sick from work to travel to Washington and participate in the riot
      Andrew Williams – The Florida firefighter was arrested after a picture online showed him wearing a Trump hat and pointing to a placard bearing the name of Democrat Nancy Pelosi
      Josiah Colt – The Idaho man was pictured dangling from a Senate balcony after rioters stormed the chamber and is facing charges of disorderly conduct and trespassing
      Adam Johnson, 36, of Florida, was photographed holding up the House speaker’s lectern and smiling during the Capitol siege. He has been charged with theft of government property and the lectern has since been returned
      Jenny Cudd is the owner of a flower shop who once ran for mayor in Midland, Texas. According to officials, she posted a video where she said: “We did break down Nancy Pelosi’s office door”
      Klete Keller, a two-time Olympic gold medallist swimmer, has been charged after online sleuths spotted that he wore his Olympic jacket to the Capitol
      Robert Sandford, a recently retired firefighter from a Philadelphia suburb, is accused of assaulting officers by throwing a fire extinguisher at them
      Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson, off-duty police officers from Rocky Mount, Virginia, are accused of trespassing and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds
      Jon Schaffer, the guitarist from heavy metal band Iced Earth, faces six charges, including engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building. He was allegedly among rioters who sprayed Capitol police with bear spray
      Tam Pham quit his job as a Houston police officer after his police chief told reporters he had been part of the crowd that “penetrated” Congress. The FBI says they found deleted selfies from inside the Capitol during a search of his phone
      Joseph Randall Biggs, 37, a Florida-based member of the Proud Boys, faces multiple charges including obstructing an official proceeding and unlawful entry
      Patrick Edward McCaughey III, of Connecticut is accused of assaulting a police officer with a clear plastic shield in a melee that was caught on camera
      Suzanne Ianni, 59, started anti-gay organisation “Super Happy Fun America” and travelled to DC with fellow Massachusetts resident Mark Sahady, 46, police say. They are both charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct
      Jorge Riley, a Republican activist from California, resigned his position in the state assembly after images on his social media accounts showed him inside the breached Capitol
      Samuel Camargo, 26, returned to Florida after the riot. He turned himself into Washington DC authorities two weeks later after returning the Capitol for the Biden Inauguration
      Michael Joseph Foy, 29, is a Marine veteran from Michigan accused of assaulting officers with a hockey stick he was allegedly carrying during the riot

  7. The pro-life “movement” is over. The coup de main was handed to it by Francis when he supported a pro-abortion candidate for President. It was also dealt a deadly blow by our feckless bishops with their “seamless garment” nonsense.

  8. Allow me to clarify: The pro-life ‘movement” is over in terms of affecting policy on a grand scale. It is NOT over in the minds of individual Catholics who will coalesce with others of like mind to work and pray against the greatest evil of all time – the murder of the Innocents. In this cause, Catholics ought to earmark 100% of their Church charitable contributions (dioceses do not need any money from the faithful as they are supported by Federal funding [cf the USCCB]).

    • With all due respect, Deacon Peitler, where did you get information that the various “dioceses do NOT need any money from the faithful, as they are supported by Federal funding [cf the USCCB].” Please explain. Just what is the USCCB and how is it related? Are you sure that you are not confusing Catholic Charities with other Church charities? I learned, years ago, to my dismay, that our local Catholic Charities group is funded (in part) by the State. I was amazed & incredulous as to why it would do that, since the State regulations do not allow any of the staff (paid & volunteers) to speak the Gospel or even mention Jesus’ name. I do not contribute to “BIG pro-life” organizations but only to the local independent Christian pregnancy resource center, which is also a clinic. It does not receive ANY Gov’t. funding whatsoever and is, therefore, able to share the Gospel. The Board of Directors take no salary, and the Executive Director is not highly paid. Our PRC depends entirely on contributions and is expanding into a fourth county here in Western PA. Monies are spent prayerfully & conservatively. ALL services are non-judgmental, FREE and fair. Our local PRC could be a model for others to follow.

  9. What happened in Washington does not affect my prolife stand. Trump may have helped us but it is God who is our leader in defense of the pre born at risk of abortion.. In the end, those who tried to make abortion legal will be dealt with by God. Those who used violence to either win or oppose the election have only destroyed themselves. Anti fa,BLM and any other supremacist group destroyed themselves this past year. Prolife for the babies will be just fine.

  10. This article is laughable, but also sad. We can’t give any credibility to called pro-life democrats, who are not really pro-life as they consistently vote for pro death candidates. All one has to do is google the pro-life accomplishments of president Trump. He is the most pro-life president we have ever had. I shudder to think what the next years will be like under the party of death. If anyone objects to this characterization then just read their platform and listen to what they say.

  11. Count me in as another in thinking this article is out of touch. With Biden more babies will die, the bishops for the most part will look the other way, and very few in the pews will care. This article, another one where Trump is criticized for past sins, essentially overlooks his aggressive support of pro life, which was one of the reasons the main stream media hated him so much.

    Regarding Pro Life Organizations, I would like to know what they really accomplish. While I significantly support Priest for Life, sadly I wonder what it has accomplished. Here in NW Chicago suburbs I can only remember 1 priest who would give sermons on abortion. Most priests seem to, as the expression goes, pull there punches, never really willing to state the horror about abortion, the evil sin it is, and how God may punish us for this for being so silent.

    As someone said, politics is upstream from culture. Well the prolife culture in the Church is essentially non existant. Too bad for babies and for the Church.

  12. The Trump presidency was in retrospect an evil one, albeit still clearly the lesser of two evils mainly because of Amy Coney Barrett — whose appointment was in a sense an accident, occasioned by the death of Justice Ginsburg. We now embark upon some years of greater evil, but also upon years wherein we have a chance to distance ourselves from the lesser evil as well. It would have been wrong to cut our ties to Trump earlier, but it is right to do so now.

  13. I’ve rarely been more inspired to comment on a CWR article than this morning. First, the article struck me as a hatchet job. “Orange Man BAD!! VERY BAD!!!”

    Whatever. I never was (and still am not) PRO-Trump, but ANTI-Democrat. Whoever the candidate, and whatever the office, I cannot imagining ever again pulling the lever for a man or woman associated with the Democrat Party. Given the choices available in 2016, Trump got my vote. Same in 2020. I wish the candidate running against Hilary Clinton was a better person, more compassionate, more virtuous, but we got the candidate we selected. He was able to win, which was near miraculous.

    Anyway, I hope someone will write a strong response to this article. God help us all.

  14. Sadly Trump whipped up emotions and a legitimate sense of moral outrage at the Democrat involvement in, by witness reports a seeming engineered election result. Lies were leveled at Pres Trump for claiming lies in this sea change for Nation, Church, the Constitution itself in what if I may foretell an expected already active leftist persecution of his supporters. Victory and peace is an illusion with a Biden who remains a dangerous threat to religious liberty, human life in the womb,likely nascent, and in the twilight of life. A fraudulent Catholic celebrated by frauds wherever found, Washington DC, Chicago and beyond the Atlantic. Celebrated by the purveyors of sexual madness foisting queens of depravity on our children. Distorted men wearing wicked horns and guileful smile. A devastating turn of events for truth and all that is pure, beautiful and sacred. We can’t refuse to admit the immensity of the evil. Neither can we placidly remain awaiting eventual return to normal. Each one of us now at this time in history has a mission to be upfront, candid, and morally pleasing to Christ Our Lord.

    • Biden, a “fraudulent Catholic”. This insight invites a comparison to similar times, lo, only 500 years ago. Instead of pseudo-pope Henry VIII (with Cardinal Wolsey…), it’s pseudo-pope Biden. Where is Bishop Fisher today, when instead of the silent Thomas More it’s the silent-scream partial-birth babies who are beheaded?

      Pseudo-pope Biden first will target such treasonous felons as the Little Sisters of the Poor. Can’t have any of that, you know, celibate nuns caring for the poor, the Democratic party’s captive client group! But, what next? In the 16th Century, as now under the electronic Internet censors and Leftist media talking heads and “news” papers, it was the hard-copy monastery libraries that were wiped out: 613 in England, 151 in France, and 90 colleges under the care of the Religious.

      But, who’s to worry? As the smiley-button Duke of Norfolk reassured a still-alive and now anxious Thomas More: “This isn’t Spain, you know.”

      • Ah! Spain. Frey Tómas de Torquemada OP, monastic prior, confessor to Ferdinand and Isabella, Grand Inquisitor, nephew of illustrious theologian Cardinal Juan de Torquemado would have a word or two of inquisitive interest regarding the unabashed Catholicism of Senor Biden and Senora Pelosi. With addition of his specialty, interrogation enhancement techniques. However, to reassure the conservative reader the preceding is, said here for sake of appearances, humor. Although the great grandchild of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, the CDF is a toothless tiger in the new age of Aquarius. It’s poor form for bishops, the USCCB [except the handful of faithful prelates] or the Vatican never mind a Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to actually be what it’s called. Propaganda Fides was not for little reason upgraded to leading Dicastery bumping down the annoying [at least when Cardinal Gerhard Muller was prefect] CDF. Spreading the faith now relegated to how we feel challenges the faithful to Christ’s query, What do you seek? to counter with, You O Lord, all that you taught, all that you our great Captain commanded.

      • I wonder if Trump himself would not be against abortion in his personal life? Who knows? I am of the opinion that his stance on Abortion is primarily for political gain. I may be wrong but I am sure he is a very dangerous person. I know the psychological paradigm, often wrapped in a cloak of deceptive religion, of cult manipulation.
        Many who support him are being used and manipulated to such an extent that the dynamic resembles that of cult psychology.
        For what it matters to the readership here, be very clear on this, I do not support abortion. Nor do I support USA war in Iraq and proxy Yemen where untold suffering of innocents at the hand of US military’s murdering madness has taken place with nary a word of disquiet emanating from this supposed holy collective of witness to the way for life that is the Truth of the whole message of Jesus.
        It seems as if all Satan would have to do is to appear as a shining Angel and many of you who so clearly lack discernment would rejoice at his feet in joyous worship.

        • Mr. Hallam,
          I’m a great advocate of free speech & you certainly have a right to express your views from Australia but have you considered the tone of your comments here & your recent comments re. CWR being removed from Twitter for describing Dr. Levine?
          We all want to witness to the truth but we can find it challenging to keep a Christian tone when opposing politics or ideologies are the subject at hand. If civility & first assuming the best intentions works on one side, it should work on the other.
          God bless!

  15. I am very disappointed in this article.

    I have been a leader in the pro-life movement in Massachusetts since the 1970s. In 2016, based on his personality, his admittedly indecent acts – and the fact that the alternative, Hillary Clinton, was impossible to support, I was tempted to skip voting altogether! That would have been the first time I didn’t vote since I was eligible to vote in 1963.
    Then I learned that Trump was being informed about potential judicial nominees by the Heritage Foundation. I have been a member of that sterling organization since its founding. I also learned that despite his past behavior, after his election he had been praying with a group of Evangelical pastors and that he’d had a spiritual conversion! Both of those pieces of information clinched the decision for me and I voted for Donald Trump. And I am very glad I did.
    Biblical history shows that God can use flawed people. King David committed one of the worst sins imaginable. He coveted the wife of Uriah the Hittite, so he had Uriah sent to the front lines of battle where he made sure Uriah was killed. Then he married the woman, Bathsheba.
    Later he repented, and God forgave him. He still paid for his sins, as his first son died and there were many deaths and problems within his own family.
    However, despite all that, God’s mercy is so incredible! Jesus our Savior was descended from the line of King David! Whatever Donald Trump did in his prior life, if he’s repented, God can, and I believe did, use him.
    Sometimes I still cringe at something he says, but actions speak louder than words. If you ignore some of his unwise words, you must recognize that for the pro-life movement, and on many other issues, he has been the best president in a very long time.
    In addition, I watched the public hearings in four of the swing states on voter fraud. There was more than overwhelming “evidence,” there was plenty of proof of massive voter fraud! The outright denials by the major media have been disgusting.
    I was at the Stop the Steal Rally in Washington, DC on January 6th. I was part of a quarter million Americans. In my experience it was not only the most vast, it was also the most patriotic, polite, non-violent crowd I have ever experienced! I mingled with the crowd for hours, and did not meet one person who showed any indication of a tendency to become violent.
    At the end of his speech, President Trump urged us to go the Capital peacefully. That statement was cut from media reporting!
    I didn’t go to the Capitol because I assumed we would be trying to speak with our legislators. Knowing from long experience as Director of Public Policy at the Massachusetts State House for a pro-life, pro-family non-profit, that our current representatives in Washington are so pro-abortion that it would be a waste of my time. Instead of going to the Capital, I went directly to Union Station to await our bus home.
    While waiting, someone who had been at the Capitol told me they had seen a busload of Antifa’s arrive. Then we heard there had been a riot, and that someone had been shot, and that someone else was taken out on a stretcher. The woman who was shot was killed by a policeman as she was climbing through a broken window. That policeman is being investigated for excessive force. The only fatality caused by the rioters was a policeman who tragically was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher! That would be classic Antifa behavior, not pro-life behavior!
    The person on the stretcher had had a heart attack and they were trying to resuscitate him. The other two deaths were from a heart attack and a stroke. Later reports keep saying that five people died in the incident, without distinguishing between violent attacks and death from a medical condition. Three of the five were from medical conditions.
    The reporting by main-stream media on this non-typical behavior by Trump supporters has been atrocious – and fallacious! They have bought the Antifa/BLM story hook, line and sinker. I am very disappointed in the Catholic Word Report.
    The absolute contradiction between the massive crowd of peaceful attendees and what happened at the Capital has convinced me that it was pre-planned for Antifa et al to agitate and disrupt the gathering at the Capital and instigate violence. I heard from somewhere that their objective was “to make us look bad.” With the complicity of the bought mass media, they have pretty much succeeded.
    God help America!

    • Thanks for your input. To me it is most important that people realize that Antifa was involved in the violence – as they have been for the last 4 years.

      And as they will be this Wednesday.

      • I totally agree with you and it I snot a question of agreeing or not. Truth is truth and it can only be seen as a lie if the liars have the media .
        It is so terribly obvious that this was all a lie. I knew in advance that the Democrats would not allow the 6th of January to take place. They had to disrupt it in whatever way possible . The two months before , EVERY court refused to even look at the enormous PROOF of rigged elections that had been collected . That in itself is proof of obstruction of justice. The Dems should have accepted it and then prove to the world that there was no obstruction and no rigged elections. Forcing everybody to not even look at it , is so obviously third world totalitarianism. The last resort was Jan. 6th , where, in front of the whole country, the proof was going to be presented by the Republican Senators for each state. It meant that even the Main Stream Media had to show that. All the while they had been saying that there was no proof. Now they would be forced to show what was going on because the whole country was waiting for it. Therefore, to plan the obstruction and on top of that have another proof (on their side) that Trump was just a radical and was willing to storm the Capitol just to get his way , was a perfect demonic plan, set in their game of chess.

  16. I’m a life long Catholic and have fought along side pro-life groups since the Supreme Court in their wisdom couldn’t decide when life begins. What cowards! I have no idea how much money I’ve donated to various and many seemingly dedicated pro-life groups and organizations over 40 odd years. I was almost run over by a truck for peacefully protesting at an abortion clinic and then ended up being one of only two people willing to testify in court. From what I’ve seen President Donald Trump has done more in four years for the pro- life movement then all of us put together. I’m embarrassed and ashamed of how quickly we turn our backs on him based on blatant lies from the deranged and corrupt mainstream media. I just recently signed up for Catholic World Report but I am finished with you already. God uses who he will not who you decide is good enough. Thank God for 4 years of President Donald Trump! Pray we can still practice our faith after 4 years of Joe Biden. He’s a real inspiration as a Catholic. Abortion anyone?

  17. Watching conservative, prolife people jumping a sinking ship in order to not be smeared along with the captain is very disappointing.
    Ships sink for different reasons. Some go down in storms, some on hidden rocks, and a few have holes bored into them by their own crews.
    There’s little loyalty or gratitude in Washington.
    Good luck, prolife people. Perhaps we can look forward to 50 years more of marches, slogans, fund raising galas, and absolutely no repeal of Roe or any practical curbs on feticide. But we’ll keep our reputations intact and continue to be exactly where Planned Parenthood wants us to be. Virtuously ineffective.

    • I enjoy your posts probably more than anyone else’s. Would be lovely to have coffee with you. Maybe go the Adoration.
      .
      Our “back up” church (not parish, it’s a different denomination and they’ve been kind to us when our parish simply did not gave the resources) is doing a fasting seasoning (40 Days of Fasting and Prayer…) and the very first reading for the 40 Days is Isaiah 48: 17-18.
      .
      Marches, slogans, elections, fund raising really have not saved the unborn. True, some little ones have been and will be saved from the knives and chemicals, but ultimately, only obedience to God’s design for procreation will save the vast majority. And pro-life people by and large are not and have not been especially interested in that, preferring marches, slogans, elections, and fundraising (to living without contraception).
      .
      Having said that, the conservatives willing “jump ship” as it were is most disappointing.

      • Kathryn, “And pro-life people by and large are not and have not been especially interested in that,” (obedience to God’s design for procreation)”preferring marches, slogans, elections, and fundraising (to living without contraception).”
        AMEN! You have burrowed right in to the heart of the problem and explained why the
        pro-life efforts are failing.

      • Thank you for your kind words. I think it would be lovely to visit over a cup of coffee with you too.
        I’m enjoying my morning coffee as we speak, so I suppose in a way we are doing just that.
        🙂

      • The ship not to jump is the GOP, with its sterling abolition platform.

        Which Trump wanted to molest with rape incest exceptions.

        Keep Trump in rearview, do not follow him out of the GOP. And insist the rest of the GOP respect the platform. Abolition then, abolition now. Created Equal 2026.

  18. The media knew those people were on the way, and so did Antifa and blm. If there is ANYONE out there who doesn’t think there were plants from both those outfits in place to get a riot going (and they’ve had plenty of practice over the last 4 years, focusing on Seattle and Portland) – I’ve got some oceanfront property just outside Brattleboro Vermont that I’ll let you have for a song.

    Now we have the inauguration this Wednesday, and the media is all over the place and ready for any disturbances – they WANT riots and civil disturbance to make people like us look even worse.

    What to do? (Warning – virtue signaling coming) This Wednesday go to Mass if possible, At LEAST – fast and say at least two rosaries – one for our country and one for the immortal soul of Joe Biden.

  19. The Immaculate Conception as The Patroness of the Prolife movement as well – and trusting too that whatever one has chosen to do to uphold the truth of The Incarnation is a great blessing and would be judged and rewarded by The Lord in accord with the deep intent of each heart . Good to read about the courageous efforts of many , who tried to bring about justice through peaceful means .
    Reports on the decision to have ‘virtual ‘ March for Life this year –
    the time and expenses spared can be well used for good , such as for deeper awareness of the dignity and power in life from its beginning , by knowing more of the Life of our Mother , her graces , even in the early stages of life –

    https://benedictinesofdivinewill.org/uploads/3/4/3/2/34324596/mary_in_dw.pdf

    Blessings !

  20. I’m sad Trump lost. But he is not a god or a messiah. His downfall is not the end of America, the Pro-Life movement or the heralding of the Apocalypse. The Pro-Life movement cannot stake it’s credibility on the political career of a single man, especially one with such deep flaws despite his gifts as a political leader. The struggle is bigger than that.

  21. No one speaks from the point of view of anwanted baby. I speak from experience. My father seduced my mother because as he boasted ‘he didn’t want her to get away’ i.e. he desired her but didn’t love her. They married. I was born and a sister 4 1/2 years later. She reflected more of himself than I did, so I was bullied. My mother was distressed and wanted to leave. He never considered how or why she did but saw this as a personal insult throughout the years went by it became impracticable for her to leave, so he punished her for 50 years until his death. He continued to bully me similarly. I have had a difficult life. My nephew committed suicide. None of these things would have happened if my mother aborted me. I would have been happy for her if it meant she married someone who genuinely loved her. Instead my father brought suffering on several people and it continues.

    • Your suffering is not meaningless. God had you in mind “before you were formed in the womb”. What if Beethoven had been aborted? We are all potential saints, even those born into the most squalid circumstances.

  22. Yes, yes – here we go again. The Pro-Life movement marked itself for death by its association with Trump. That’s after it marked itself for death by not embracing the fight against climate change and overpopulation; by not fighting racism (as per a catholic bureaucrat); by not wearing masks: by not supporting the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare): by working at “cross purposes” (as per a Catholic Cardinal); going all the way back to disobeying laws (Operation Rescue); by pursuing politics…etc. And why do catholic journalists always run to Pro-Life Democrats (talk about marked for death) for the doom and gloom. We are certainly in for hard times (as is this country), but none of it is attributable to our association with Trump. It is, rather, the handing over (through corrupt means) of our government to an oligarchy working hand (and money) in hand with a totalitarian dictatorship. But the Pro-Life movement is the ONLY part of American society prepared to endure and triumph. The fight for life is over when when WE say it is – not twitter, google or the CCP.

  23. The pro-life movement is not political. Politicians make it political. The members of the movement embraced President Trump because he accepted them. The Democratic Party rejected the members. Regarding President Trump, he did not cause the riots at the capital. He welcomed peaceful protesters who are tired of their voices not heard. Please do not make assumptions that their voices were not valid or insinuate that they are not important.

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